


Unexpected

by alvahana



Category: White Collar
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-04
Updated: 2014-05-04
Packaged: 2018-01-21 20:39:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1563308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alvahana/pseuds/alvahana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This isn't how either Neal or Peter planned to spend the Saturday afternoon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unexpected

Neal had just put on one of his casual leather shoes when his phone rang. He took a quick glance at the screen and saw Peter’s name.  
  
“Hey, Peter.”  
  
“Neal. You at home?”  
  
“Still am, but I’m heading out.”  
  
“Got plans this afternoon?”  
  
“Yeah.” Neal put the phone on speaker to free his hand for the other shoe. “I’m having lunch with Rebecca. Why?”  
  
“Oh…nothing special.” Neal could hear a hint of disappointment in his friend’s voice. “I’m just wondering if you could come by my house for a while.”  
  
“I thought you said you were gonna spend some quality time with Elizabeth alone today.”  
  
“Well…there’s been a change of plan—” A high-pitched cry cut Peter off in mid-sentence.  
  
Neal blinked. “Was that a baby?”  
  
Peter sighed. “That’s my baby niece, Ally,” he explained. “El’s sister and her husband had to fly back to LA this morning to take care of some urgent matter. So they asked us to look after the baby this weekend.”  
  
“But Elizabeth’s not there with you right now,” Neal guessed.  
  
“Yeah, she got a call from a client and had to go out for a quick meeting. Said she’d be back in a few hours…”  
  
“Which leaves _you_ to take care of the baby.”  
  
Peter let out another sigh. “You know I’m not good with kids…”  
  
“Especially kids under three, I remember,” Neal said after a chuckle. “You do realize I don’t have kids either.”  
  
“But you’re obviously better than me, based on my—” Another scream came from the background. “—observation. She just won’t stop crying no matter what I do.” Peter said, almost desperately.  
  
“Maybe she’s hungry? Have you fed her?” Neal suggested.  
  
“Nah, El did that before she left. I think Ally needs her diaper changed, but as you may have guessed, I have no idea how to do that.”  
  
“So…Peter, let me get this straight. You want me to hail a cab and go all the way to Brooklyn just so I can help you change your baby niece’s diaper before I go back to Manhattan for a lunch date, which will probably become a tea date ‘cause I’ll be late for it for at least an hour.”  
  
“I love how our minds are always in sync.”  
  
“That’s _not_ how I plan to spend my Saturday afternoon…” Despite his reluctant tone, Neal was already typing a text to Rebecca saying he would be late.  
  
“How about this: I’ll take you to a museum outside your radius.”  
  
Neal grinned. “Two.”  
  
“No bargaining, Neal.”  
  
Neal shrugged. _It was worth a try._ “Okay, one. See you in a bit.”  
  
\------  
  
Half an hour later, Neal arrived at the front door of the Burke’s house. He knew the Burkes kept their spare key in a small crack hidden right behind the porch lamp, but he figured he probably shouldn’t invite himself in this time, so he pressed the doorbell instead.  
  
Neal heard some shuffling inside the house, and then Peter’s voice. “Neal?”  
  
“Yep. It’s me.”  
  
“It’s open. Come on in.”  
  
Neal opened the door and stepped inside. Not surprisingly, Peter was sitting on the couch, awkwardly holding a sobbing baby with both arms. Satchmo, as if curious about the unfamiliar little girl, was lingering around with his tail wagging slowly.  
  
“You certainly took your time,” Peter said, in a tone more relieved than accusing.  
  
Neal wanted to laugh, but chary of hurting Peter’s dignity, he settled for something between a chuckle and a cough. “I came here as fast as I could,” he said. “How’re you guys holding up?”  
  
“Not good,” Peter admitted.  
  
“Here, let me.” Gently, Neal took the baby from Peter’s grasp and cradled her in one arm. “Hey, nice to meet you, Ally,” Neal smiled warmly as he started to lightly bounce the blue-eyed baby. Though still sobbing, she had quieted down a little and was now gazing intently at the stranger in front of her.  
  
Peter was watching with amusement when Neal looked up at him suddenly. “She definitely needs the diaper changed,” Neal said.  
  
“I knew it. My gut detector’s never wrong,” Peter said, feeling somewhat self-satisfied.  
  
“Peter, you don’t need a gut detector to know that; her backside is wet.”  
  
“...Right.”  
  
“Do you have a clean diaper and other baby stuff?”  
  
“Yes. They're all in the bathroom. I’ll go grab it.”  
  
Peter hurried upstairs and came back with a blanket, a pack of wet tissues and a bag full of baby supplies. He set them down on the armchair nearby.  
  
“Put the blanket on the coffee table, would you?” Neal said as he took several things out from the bag with one hand without difficulties.  
  
Peter did so, then helped Neal place a clean diaper on the blanket and lower Ally on top of it. With practiced ease, Neal wiped the baby with some wet tissues, removed the dirty diaper and put on a new one in less than a couple of minutes.  
  
“Okay, where’d you learn how to do this?” surprised by Neal’s smooth movements, Peter asked.  
  
“Let’s just say it’s a necessary skill of one of my previous professions.” Neal answered vaguely as he dressed the baby, whose sobbing had stopped completely.  
  
Peter lifted his eyebrows. “You've been a babysitter before?”  
  
Neal just gave a shrug, his eyes focused on the task at hand.  
  
“Nanny Neal. Another piece of information to add to my stack of Caffrey’s files.”  
  
Neal glowered at Peter, only a little bit. “Is this how you repay me for saving your butt?”  
  
Peter's lips twitched at that. “Who would hire a guy as their babysitter anyway?”  
  
“You’d surprised how many of them do,” Neal said. “Done.”  
  
Clean and dressed, Ally seemed a lot happier than earlier. Her legs were now kicking and her tiny hand was wrapping tightly around Neal's index finger.  
  
“Wow, I’m impressed," Peter said, moving closer to examine the baby and gently poke her pink cheek. "Feeling better, little girl? Just in time for a beauty nap.”  
  
“…You didn’t mention anything about putting her to bed on the phone.”  
  
“Oh, didn’t I? I’m sure you can manage, Nanny Neal,” Peter quipped.  
  
Neal opened his mouth to retort before a better idea came to his mind. “You know, there’s a new Italian restaurant outside my radius I’ve been dying to try out. Food critic gave it five stars.”  
  
Peter put his hands on his hips with a "now what" expression.  
  
“It's not far. In fact, it's just a block away from the museum I’m planning to go…”  
  
“Don’t push it, Neal.”  
  
“Come on, Peter—”  
  
“No.”  
  
“But—”  
  
“Don't.”  
  
“Fine,” Neal said, sullenly, and looked back down at the baby. "You have a bossy uncle", he muttered in a voice he was sure Peter could hear.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
“Just telling Ally she has a kindly uncle.”  
  
“That's what I thought I heard," Peter said through a smirk.  
  
Neal scooped the baby back up and held her against his chest, gently rocking her while pacing around the house. Curious to see more of Neal’s babysitting tricks, Peter hovered behind them. It was about a minute or two later when Neal stopped without warning and turned around.  
  
“Really, Peter, do you mind? It’s distracting.”  
  
Peter took a helpless glance around the room and settled on the yellow Labrador, who had lost interest in the humans and was now lying down gloomily by the back door.  
  
“Guess I’ll take Satch out for a walk then.”  
  
“You do that.” Neal shook his head and went back to lull Ally to sleep.  
  
\------  
  
Peter figured he should let Neal work his magic on the baby alone, so he took his time walking Satchmo. By the time he went back home, Neal was already gone and El had returned from her meeting. Ally, as expected, was sleeping soundly in the bassinet.  
  
“Hon, sorry for leaving you and Ally like that,” El said after giving Peter a kiss.  
  
“That’s fine. I was able to recruit some great help anyway.”  
  
“I can see that. I had no idea Neal’s so good with babies, though.”  
  
“Neither did I.” He added after a moment, “Apparently, apart from a butler, he was once a babysitter.”  
  
“Really? That explains a lot," El said with surprise. "He even stayed to help me prepare the formula. How sweet of him.”  
  
“Yeah.” Peter had to admit Neal had been more than helpful today.  
  
“Too bad he couldn’t stay for dinner.”  
  
“Oh, don’t worry, El. He’s already milked me of a museum visit outside his radius.”  
  
“Only a museum visit? Neal said it was for a museum and a meal.”  
  
 _Of course he did._   
  
Peter had to suppress the urge to grumble. But then he took a look at the contented expression of the sleeping baby. A smile warmed into his face.  
  
 _All right, maybe a museum and a meal_ _aren’t that unreasonable._

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted at my LJ: http://alvahana.livejournal.com/3451.html


End file.
